Studio Gang to make its mark on Paris with U. of C. complex

Studio Gang image

Chicago architect Jeanne Gang's firm has designed a new Paris center for the University of Chicago. The multi-story complex, shown in renderings, will replace the university's existing Center in Paris and is expected to open in 2022.

Chicago architect Jeanne Gang's firm has designed a new Paris center for the University of Chicago. The multi-story complex, shown in renderings, will replace the university's existing Center in Paris and is expected to open in 2022. (Studio Gang image)

Blair Kamin

The firm of Chicago architect Jeanne Gang has designed a new Paris academic center for the University of Chicago.

The multi-story complex will replace the university’s existing Center in Paris, which is the home of an undergraduate study abroad program, hosts alumni activities, and serves as a hub for research and collaboration with scholars in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It will be located in Paris’ 13th Arrondissement, about three blocks from the current site, and will have twice as much floor space. The complex is expected to open in 2022.

Renderings show a modern design with strong vertical lines and courtyard-like open spaces, both subtle reference to the Collegiate Gothic style that is hallmark of the university’s Hyde Park campus.

According to a university spokesman, the complex will be a single building with two inter-connected parts: the center itself and a structure with private residential apartments that is not owned by the U. of C.

Studio Gang, which previously designed the U. of C.’s Campus North Residential Commons, will collaborate on the project with Parc Architectes of Paris.

The firm’s namesake, Jeanne Gang, is best known for her Aqua Tower and the under-construction Vista Tower, which will be Chicago’s third tallest building when it’s completed in 2020.